After the Muğla Provincial Education Directorate learned of the tragic event in Muğla, the institution paid the debts of the Sipahi family to effect the release of the young man’s mother, Emine.According to news reports, Emine Sipahi enrolled her son and his 16-year-old sister Özlem in a dershane, which offers weekend and evening courses geared toward preparing students for national exams, three years ago. The 48-year-old mother wanted her children to successfully complete their courses, but was unable to pay the school’s fees, resulting in legal proceedings being launched over the debt. Unable to pay the outstanding amount totaling some TL 5,000, Sipahi appeared in court and was imprisoned two months ago upon the demand of prosecutors.
Soner Sipahi felt guilty over his mother’s imprisonment and hanged himself in Muğla’s Fethiye district because of the situation and left a note saying: “I can no longer endure this pain. Please forgive me.”
Mustafa Sipahi, Soner’s father, expressed his sadness over the matter. He said the dershane’s administrative board is responsible for his son’s death. Emine Sipahi’s relatives came to the prison as she was being released. Speaking to the Cihan news agency, Sami Aslan, the brother of Emine Sipahi, noted that it was unjust to imprison a member of a poor family for debt. He added that they were all very upset over Soner’s suicide.
